Activists mount Trident legal bid

Peace activists say they are launching a legal challenge against the Government's plans to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system.

Lawyers are set to seek a judicial review over the Government's White Paper on the issue, claiming that parts of it are "incorrect in law".

Peacerights said it had obtained legal opinion from two barristers that the Government was wrong to state that keeping a nuclear deterrent was "fully consistent" with Britain's international obligations.

It also said that the failure by the Government to carry out a proper public consultation was "itself unlawful".

Another peace group, Nuclear Information Service, said it was now calling on ministers to accept the assessment or face a legal challenge in the courts.

Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers, solicitors for Nuclear Information Service, said: "The Government has completely misunderstood international law on two vitally important issues. The first is that replacing Trident would be a clear breach of its obligations under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including that it must move to disarm.

"The second is that it can never threaten to use such a weapons system as it cannot discriminate between military objectives and civilians."

He added that similar legal opinion had been issued by peace groups before the publication of the White Paper in December, but the Government had chosen to ignore it.

Lawyers for the Government now have 14 days to reply to the latest legal challenge before the Nuclear Information Service seeks a judicial review, Mr Shiner said. This could then bring the case in front of the High Court within the next six weeks. MPs are due to debate and vote on the issue on March 14.

Di McDonald, of Nuclear Information Service, said: "There has been no proper consultation on whether or not the UK needs nuclear weapons forever. The Government has no method of weighing the views of consultees, and is not reporting to Parliament on the results of a consultation. It is merely restating over and over again that it wants a new-generation nuclear weapons system. This view is at odds with the majority, and at odds with building a safer world."